Le Chat Mon Ami is a refuge for abandoned cats owned and run by Mme Angelique Bellin with the assistance of a few dedicated volunteers.

Angelique works full-time to finance the  running of the refuge which is currently home to over two hundred cats, many of which would not be alive today without the love and care given to them at the refuge.

“Vive le diference” is a familiar expression often applied to the many enjoyable experiences had when visiting France. There is unfortunately one notable experience that many visitors from the UK will often find disturbing, if not distressing, and that is the perceived attitude towards animal welfare, most noticeably affecting cats and dogs, in rural France.  

 Angelique Bellin feels so strongly about the plight of all uncared for animals that she has devoted her life to helping them. She lives and works within the department of Manche, a few kilometers from the ferry port of Cherbourg. Angelique entered college to become a veterinary surgeon but quickly realized that the frequent necessary task of having to ‘put down’ sick animals was something she found too upsetting and reluctantly switched her studies to law. This has proved to be a blessing as she has become the well-known manager of a busy insurance office and with her excellent command of English, is a welcome magnet for the many British residents in the area.

Angelique opened her cat refuge in July 2004 in a field adjacent to her little cottage. The initial construction work used all of her savings, and every available spare moment her father and a few close friends could provide. Her initial orphans included a fox, five dogs, a donkey, three sheep, a pheasant and various other creatures in need of a home. The primary purpose of the refuge is for cats however and  during the last four years she has found good homes for cats and dogs in both French and British families all over France.

The Refuge is certified by the French equivalent of the RSPCA called the Direction des Services Veterinaire, who visit and inspect the facilities twice a year and provide Le Chat Mon Ami with a DSV certificate; a legal requirement not dissimilar to the UK. She is fortunate to have an excellent veterinary practice close to her home as many of the new arrival cats are in a very poor condition. The vet has now treated more than four hundred cats, some more than once. All new arrivals are given a basic course of inoculations and all ‘toms’ are castrated. The huge cost of this work is paid for by Angelique out of her salary; in addition she personally funds the food and heating bills which amount to approximately 1,200 Euros every month.

There are many stories of Angelique’s desperate missions to rescue cats trapped in terrible circumstances. These include her and two friends climbing at night onto the metal warehouse roofs of the enclosed Cherbourg ferry terminal to trap abandoned cats, many with collars, abandoned by their owners when finding they require animal passports to enter Britain! And of her desperately trying to save kittens and adult cats left in weighted bags to drown in rivers and streams, or, as on one terrible occasion, being dumped in an oil drum filled with old engine oil. Sadly there are all too many other shocking instances to recount, but they make Angelique all the more determined to keep up her work and extend the Refuge to accommodate more animals in need.